

CHENNAI: Police arrested a bike taxi driver on charges of raping a 22-year-old woman from Tripura near Vanagaram in the early hours on Monday. The accused, Sivakumar (22) of Theni district, was arrested, and the two-wheeler used in the crime was seized.
Police said the woman, a homemaker residing with her husband in Maduravoyal, had booked a ride using a ride-hailing aggregator on Sunday night to deliver a parcel to her friend in Pallikaranai. After completing the delivery, she asked the same rider to take her back home.
During the return trip, the rider allegedly diverted the route to a dark, isolated stretch near Vanagaram. He grabbed her by the neck, threatened to kill her, and raped her, as per her complaint. The woman managed to alert her husband through a text message. He traced her location, confronted the rider, and handed him over to the police.
Sivakumar was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.